On Sunday it was reported by Der Spiegel that German chancellor Angela Merkel will also boycott the championship, which Ukraine are co-hosting with Poland, in protest at her treatment.

The 51-year-old Ukranian opposition leader is in prison on abuse-of-office charges which are widely contested. Tymoshenko is on hunger strike and has claimed she has been beaten by prison guards.

Ukraine hit back at Germany's jibe at their human rights record, accusing them of cold war tactics and the politicisation of sport.

Foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Voloshyn said "we would not like to think that the political leaders of Germany are capable of reviving the methods of the Cold War and making sport a hostage of politics."